4 Days Out

Apr 08, 2011

So, I had surgery on Monday, 4/4/11. I expected to stay at the hospital for one night. NOT!

Day 1 Monday:   
I hardly remember anything at all from that day. I remember being in the pre-op waiting area, and being wheeled into the operating room and making a joke with one of the assistants, and that's the last I remember. I don't even remember getting a shot, an IV, a mask - nothing. Next thing I know, I'm in the post-op area. Which totally sucked. There was some woman standing beside me doing stuff and talking to another woman, and I was awake, and both of them ignored me. I finally managed to say, "I AM HERE!!!" to get them to look at me. I had 3 visitors that night, and I hardly remember any of it. I do remember the morphine pump. Every 6 minutes....  

Day 2 Tuesday:  
Was God awful. I walked - did laps around the floor. Still, couldn't urinate, couldn't pass gas - the 2 most important things to do post-op. Everyone kept telling me, "Just keep walking!" Didn't work. I estimate that I did 25-30 laps. I finally had to get catheterized. It felt really traumatic to me - my belly was swollen up, my incisions distended, I started to freak out. I was afraid I would burst, or that my bladder would burst. That night was one of the worst nights in my life. I was on pain meds, had a dose at 8:20 pm. It started wearing off by 10:00 pm. I was totally wound up, my muscles were restless and achy, the bloating was unbearable, and I didn't have another painkiller dose scheduled until 12:20am. I ended up crying hysterically and pacing my room for 1.5 hours. I wasn't even thinking straight anymore. I couldn't calm down. Still, no budging on the pain meds. Finally he gave me the 12:20 dose, and... blessed relief and I was able to BE STILL on the bed and just rest. But then I started to panic because I knew that in an hour and a half, I would be frantic and in pain. I made the nurse call the doctor on call, who ended up approving a different med, which I didn't even end up taking, because I ended up falling asleep - and come 4:20 am (next dose), I was feeling BETTER. I realized it was because I was able to actually rest - my body so needed rest and sleep, and instead I had totally overdone the walking to the point where I was beyond being able to slow down.

Day 3 Wednesday: 
I slept ALL DAY LONG.  And all night long too. Gee, think I was tired? My surgeon came in to talk to me - told me he wanted me to stay another day because my labs showed that my blood count was low which indicated internal bleeding. He wanted to make sure it didn't continue to get lower. Oh, and I peed!!!! All by myself!  I was SO proud. 

Day 4 Thursday:  
I am outta here!!!! Finally, I was released. Thank God, because I was going stir-crazy in that hospital. Lots of stuff going on with my mom, who's here from CT, but that story's for another post.

Day 5 Friday:  
My first full day at home. I'm by myself, but my 14 y/o daughter should be here soon. Not sure how I feel. Still bloated (not as bad as in hospital though), incisions hurt because I have been doing WAY too much too early. I'm trying to rest as much as I can and watch some TV (I can be a couch potato, but only for so long - I get bored way too easily). Problem is, it's a job to get up & off the couch. The one tip I'd recommend to someone who's going to do this is:

GET A RECLINER!!!

 

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